Reading comprehension

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@ Mama to Grace: Can you use word problems to bridge the gap between the math fun and the reading?

It's possible I don't have anything (Not ADHD nor Aspergers, possibly just some verbal memory kind of weaknesses.) and my reading comprehension in the general population is in the 93rd percentile, while my verbal IQ is somewhere in the 96-99.7th percentile. I often felt that reading comprehension was one of my primary difficulties (Especially since it was markedly lower than every other sub-index on the SAT), but looking at the data tables in Wechsler's technical manual, it's actually within normal variation for my IQ band.

Word problems are difficult for her but she can do them-just slowly. She doesn't like word problems at all, even when they have to do with math and takes a lot of prompting for her to engage with them.

I have bought books on her special interests but she still will not do anything but look at the pictures. She will read text slowly while doing video games but will ask me to read it to her mostly or just clicks through it and tries to "get" what is needed. I tried to put the closed captioning on the tv but she becomes highly agitated and will just go without her shows rather than read the captions.

I have a real hard time reading fiction. I use to go to the library and pick out a couple of fiction books with the intention of finishing them and only read a chapter then stop bc I could not relate or it was too boring. I prefer movies over novels. However, if I am reading something technical that I am interested in I'll absorb the info like a sponge.

I learned to read late and it was a struggle for me. I remember there being an actual sensation involved with it, like my brain was trying to do two opposite things at once. I don't know if this makes sense, but it felt like I was blind (or could only see inwardly) and images were struggling to be born in my head. Like I could feel the new pathways in my brain being built and it was NOT a good feeling.

It was incredibly hard and required an absolute maximum focus and I didn't start reading independently or for pleasure until years later and that was only because I was mind numbingly bored during mandatory library time. I found a book series that had illustrations and interesting stories and it slowly got easier.

Now I go through periods where all I do is read and other times when I don't read at all. It depends on the amount of focus I can bring to the task. My comprehension follows the same pattern but if I'm not interested in what I'm reading I won't understand complicated concepts or arguments.

I often find that I have to read sentences repeatedly for anything to sink in. I don't have this issue reading fiction, however, because I am able to visualize what I'm reading.

My ability to comprehend literature is about average. I have no idea how though, it sure doesn't feel like I'm all that good at it.

This is classic ADHD and my wife gets this. It's frustrating for her. There is nothing she can do, but wait till it passes. If she wrote this, it would match verbatim what you said.

I can read at an ordinary speed of 250 words per minute, and I can read what interests me all day long. The subjects that don't, I read a little bit in chunks and break it down. It's very slow this way.

I've had these "blocks" and they come with a general cognitive slump that I experience. My levels vary up and down, and I have trouble even following a news story on TV when like this.

I only experience this when I'm distracted. I can't understand what I'm reading if, for example, the TV is on in the background. I hear both the words from the TV and the words in my head as I'm reading, and they conflict with each other.

I had some trouble with reading comprehension when I was younger but its gotten a lot better over the years.

Thanks for sharing! It is probably an ADHD thing, as you've said. I still haven't found a real "solution" to it, but at least lately I've been doing better. I'm making it a point to read every night, if anything just to get myself practicing. I now suspect that the issue is related to working memory problems. As in, I have trouble retaining information in my head long enough to derive much meaning from it. Oddly enough, I don't seem to have the same trouble with writing... though, I dare say I'm not as concise or exact in my words as I would like to be. I seem to meander a lot before I finally figure out what it is that I'd like to say. Haha. This paragraph is certainly proving my point.

About word problems... yes, I always struggled with those big time. I understood and liked math, particularly when we got to Algebra, but I had a lot of trouble translating words into something mathematical. I've gotten better at them with practice, but it took someone sitting down with me for hours and teaching me how. I'm grateful to have had a few great math tutors in the past.

Oh yeah, syrella, it is a "memory problem." Things don't settle 'in there'. It's as if your hardrive is full, as *nothing allowed in*. It seems the "full" phenomenon is that nothing can be encoded "at the time"; it can't be made to fit the existing, because you can't draw it into the existing because it would require you to hold this "new thought," and to hold "another thought" simultaneously. Hence, a lack or inability to understand.
You roll and re-roll the data around in your head, without an understanding..... it doesn't gel.




That is interesting you say this because my wife is doing the same thing and it helps out this, maybe even significantly. One thing she noticed is that you can slump back into this, if she is distracted and leaves off of this training.

They do have a program that trains working memory and it has guaranteed results after so many weeks. It raises non verbal IQ up in points to a notable level. Anecdotes report this, as in reviews, but some report nothing. I've downloaded this and it is impressive. It taxes verbal memory with non verbal memory. It shows/flashes you a position of an object, a red square or white square with an (only) audio letter of the alphabet; all of this displayed in a larger square. It starts the training session with One Back: It shows you the position, color, and audio announcement of the letter, you hit either one of two keys if it is correct, after it shows you the next sequence,eg : It simultaneously shows a red or white square with an audio say "a", then it flashes again, say a white square/ with another or same letter( you have to remember it) in a different position in the grid.
After the next sequence of flashing you hit your left or right arrow keys, (or both together, depending if the flash was identical all the way through) if the new sequence was in anyway similar to the past other sequence- the second one back . And you work this backwards.
You are always multitasking because you have to learn the new "flash" and while remembering the color, letter and position of the past flash... you're always on your toes here.

The program logs your performance, and when you get enough right in the daily sessions; it takes you to two flashes back, and then three flashes, and so on.....

The problem is I can never stick to anything long enough; I get bored, and I left off after a few days.

Very interesting! Do you have a link to any of those "working memory" training programs? I'd be curious to try it out. I can't guarantee I'll stick with it either, but it might be fun.

And yes, I agree that your computer analogy is good. It certainly feels like that some days... the information has no problem getting into my brain. It just doesn't stay there for very long. In fact, some days it leaves almost immediately after it arrives. Oh well, though! If I could train up my skills a bit better, that would be great.

Sure : http://www.highiqpro.com/high-iq-pro

I'm going to retry this again.

I am quite different in this. Actually reading is one of the things which makes me think of myself as NT.
I learned to read at a normal age, before school, when I found some old abc's in our attic. When I got it, I immediatly started to read everything I got my hands on, I skipped the childrens books mostly. I am a fast reader, and I enjoy fiction, specially fantasy and sci-fi for they have more interesting landscapes. Even when I am reading something like super-string theory, I visualize it. So the most important thing is how does it look.
I can't comprehend stuff that I'm not interested about. I could read it a 100 times and still not get it. And my mind remembers the landscape, if it's a particulary impressing landscape, it might haunt my head for days. And I like it.

Edit: Oh, and I can't consentrate to speech very well, my mind starts to wander. I much rather read it than hear it. It's a pain to listen and understand.

I can read and understand things quite well.......I just do not really enjoy it like I used to.